An Assessment of the Role of Nineteenth Century Aristocratic Women in the Running and Management of the ‘Big House’.
An assessment of the role of nineteenth century aristocratic women in the running and management of the ‘big house’.
In this essay I will look at the role of aristocratic women in the management of the country houses in which they resided in Ireland during the nineteenth century. To explore this topic I will specifically examine their role under the headings of household management, child rearing and local community involvement. I intend to demonstrate that contrary to popular notions, aristocratic women played a key role in the management of the big house and by extension the maintenance of their families’ position within society. According to Tony Bernard “women….affected how houses were furnished, decorated and used and even when and in what style they were remodelled.”[1] I will be drawing on sources that include Memorials of the Life and Character of Lady Osborne and some of her friends 1816-1848, Killadoon Papers: Letter from Mrs. Birmingham to Lord Leitrim 1808, Inchiquin Papers: correspondence from Sir Edward O’Brien, 4th Baronet, with his wife Lady Charlotte O’Brien between 1802 and 1831, correspondence of Lady Londonderry, between 1845 and 1855. I will also be drawing on reading from Peter Somerville Large, Tony Barnard, Terence Dooley, Rosemary Baird, K. D. Reynolds and Stella Tillyard.
First however, I will outline exactly what is understood by the ‘big house’ and specifically the big house in the Irish context. I will also define what I mean by nineteenth century aristocratic women. I will outline the perceived notions of these women, both contemporary and modern, and what was in fact the reality.
According to Terence Dooley, “the so-called 'big houses' of Ireland were the country homes of Irish landlords. They acquired this name simply because of their physical size. They ranged in size from the modest glebe houses which were to be found in most parishes to huge mansions”.[2]
By the nineteenth century all big houses could claim to have a
In this essay I will look at the role of aristocratic women in the management of the country houses in which they resided in Ireland during the nineteenth century. To explore this topic I will specifically examine their role under the headings of household management, child rearing and local community involvement. I intend to demonstrate that contrary to popular notions, aristocratic women played a key role in the management of the big house and by extension the maintenance of their families’ position within society. According to Tony Bernard “women….affected how houses were furnished, decorated and used and even when and in what style they were remodelled.”[1] I will be drawing on sources that include Memorials of the Life and Character of Lady Osborne and some of her friends 1816-1848, Killadoon Papers: Letter from Mrs. Birmingham to Lord Leitrim 1808, Inchiquin Papers: correspondence from Sir Edward O’Brien, 4th Baronet, with his wife Lady Charlotte O’Brien between 1802 and 1831, correspondence of Lady Londonderry, between 1845 and 1855. I will also be drawing on reading from Peter Somerville Large, Tony Barnard, Terence Dooley, Rosemary Baird, K. D. Reynolds and Stella Tillyard.
First however, I will outline exactly what is understood by the ‘big house’ and specifically the big house in the Irish context. I will also define what I mean by nineteenth century aristocratic women. I will outline the perceived notions of these women, both contemporary and modern, and what was in fact the reality.
According to Terence Dooley, “the so-called 'big houses' of Ireland were the country homes of Irish landlords. They acquired this name simply because of their physical size. They ranged in size from the modest glebe houses which were to be found in most parishes to huge mansions”.[2]
By the nineteenth century all big houses could claim to have a